We know that pro-Israel does not mean blindly supporting policies that are irrational, reckless, and counter-productive. Pro-Israel means supporting policies that are consistent with Israel's interests and promote its survival as a Jewish, democratic state.
You've heard the arguments of the religious and political right-wing, and so have we. They've had their say. Now, we'll have ours.
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BDS & Criticism of Israel
If the Left wants to protest settlements, it should find ways other than boycotts. By embracing any boycotts, the Left is just contributing to the momentum behind the BDS movement and the delegitimization of Israel.
For decades, we have been trying to get people to recognize the danger posed to Israel by settlements. For years, American Jewry has responded mainly with a shrug of the shoulders signifying, "we don't want to know, don't ask us to do anything." All the while, American Jews have contributed millions of dollars in donations that directly and indirectly support settlements.
Some U.S. presidents have tried to get tougher on settlements. Back in the 1990s, President George H.W. Bush, fed up with Israel greeting every U.S. official visit with a new settlement, decided to link $10 billion in U.S.-backed loan guarantees to Israel's settlement activities. In response, the bulk of the American Jewish community declared war on Bush. Some still believe that this fight -- not over being tough on Israel, but being a little tough on settlements - helped cost Bush a second term in office.
Likewise, President Obama took on settlements right out of the gate. He didn't threaten to cut aid to Israel, or deny Israel weapons and defense systems, or fail to back Israel at the United Nations (including protecting Israel from criticism over settlements), or even ask Israel to remove a single settlement. All Obama did was push Israel to freeze settlements, consistent with Israel's long-ignored and freely undertaken commitments (most recently under the Bush-era "Roadmap"). For doing so he was vilified by some as an enemy of Israel.
In essence, the same people who decreed that pressure from an American president over settlements is unacceptable, and that U.N. action on settlements is impermissible, are now saying that it is unacceptable to adopt a policy of "Boycott Settlements, Buy Israeli." So what would these people suggest? It seems the only opposition to settlements they will tolerate - if they tolerate any opposition at all - is opposition that is as toothless as it is ineffectual.
It's time for American Jews to stop making excuses. The window is closing on the two-state solution. If American Jews want to save Israel as a Jewish state and a democracy, they need to act. And that means, for a start, showing at least as much courage as Israelis show by differentiating between Israel and the territories. Publicly declaring an intention to "buy Israel, but boycott settlements" sends a powerful message to Israelis living in both Israel and the settlements.
Demanding that American Jews not do so only leaves the field open for those, like supporters of the genuinely misguided BDS movement, who call for a general boycott of everything Israeli. If American Jews refuse to differentiate between Israel and the settlements in our activism, we can't complain when others insist on doing the same.